ITS News Archive

ITS Network Services infrastructure team has completed the second and final phase of UNI's Fiber Optic Network project. This project built a highly available single mode fiber optic network, useful for very high speed network connectivity, to each building on campus, except houses. This fiber has an expected life of 20 years or more. Diverse fiber bundles were designed to provide network resiliency should one UNI data center go offline due to a disaster.

ITS-Educational Technology will host a retirement reception to honor Director Marilyn Drury from 3 to 5 p.m., Thursday, March 5th in the Great Reading Room in Seerley Hall. Marilyn has been at UNI since Fall 1999. Please join us in wishing her well in retirement. A short program will begin at 4 p.m.

ITS-Educational Technology invites you to register for Faculty Focus workshops, January 5-9. Workshops address Bb Learn 9 features and other instructional technologies. Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Visit https://www.uni.edu/its/faculty-workshop-calendar to learn more and to access online registration.

UNI, in conjunction with AT&T, is offering complementary wireless internet access to UNI visitors and guests via the attwifi network. This will replace UNI-Guest in all campus locations except the UNI-Dome and the McLeod Center.

The attwifi network is not intended for current UNI faculty, staff, or students. These users are encouraged to use the secure, encrypted WiFi-UNI network. Configuration assistance for WiFi-UNI is available here.

ITS Network services now accepts data and voice service requests through FAMIS. We will no longer be using the HEAT system for voice and data service requests. Please contact Sharon Drachenberg with questions related to voice service and Jon Wolter with questions related to data and infrastructure requests.

Based on a review by the Office of Internal Audit, ITS - Network Services is changing the basis for telephone charges and introducing a modest data charge. This change has been approved by the Cabinet. Over the next few years, this will evolve into a flat per FTE voice and data charge. Please see our Voice and Data FAQ.

Starting on April 15th, ITS implemented the process of switching UNI accounts from using passwords to passphrases. Instead of having at least three UNI accounts with separate passwords that expire every 90 days, you will now use a single passphrase that expires after a year. Please note that the change will be made once your current password is changed on or after 4/15/2013. You will need to change it to a longer passphrase and use it to log in to your UNI computer (and labs), your UNI Gmail, WiFi-UNI, e-Learning, e-Business (formerly MEMFIS), etc. The Computer Consulting Center (273-5555) and some local IT support staff are able to reset your passphrase.

The Security Office in ITS-Network services has become aware of multiple attempts to conduct social engineering attacks against UNI employees. The attack originates as an off-campus phone call purportedly from a technical support person and they attempt to instruct the user to install malicious software on the computer claiming that the software is needed to fix the computer. This software can then be used to steal information stored on the computer, to conduct further attacks, or to participate in other illegal activities.

Rod Library, in partnership with other campus units, is seeking to develop space in the library building into a learning commons. The learning commons will be a student-centered physical and virtual learning space designed for optimal learning in groups or individually. The reconfigured space will be designed to be open, comfortable, inspirational, and practical. This survey will help us gather information from the campus community (students, faculty, and staff) about technologies, services and furnishings that will meet the needs of 21st century learners and researchers.

Change is coming to Rod Library. If you’ve been in the library lately, you may have noticed that the area behind the Reference Desk, on the 2nd (main) floor, looks different. This space will be transformed into a new learning commons. A Learning Commons Task Force has been appointed to research what a learning commons looks like at other universities and to get the ball rolling. Membership on the committee includes representatives from ITS-User Services and ITS-Educational Technology staff as well as Rod Library faculty and staff.

Faculty, please see newly-scheduled workshops for August and September on ITS-Educational Technology's online Faculty Workshop Calendar Workshops are offered on Bb Learn 9, Google Apps, Panopto, Lynda.com, and integrating library resources in eLearning. Technology integration work sessions are also scheduled, with instructional designers available to assist you.

ITS, Rod Library and the Office of Assessment will team up this summer to offer several workshops for faculty on using technology for teaching, research and assessment. View the schedule and sign up online.

ITS will offer two workshops that will demonstrate the new features of the Panopto 4.1 upgrade. If you're currently using Panopto and would like to learn more about the new features, or if you'd like to learn more about classroom capture technologies, sign up for a session online. The workshops are from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 20 or Thursday, April 5.